After a long voyage, I and my companions arrived at the land of the fierce Cyclops, who did not know the laws. They do not engage in agriculture, but despite this, the land itself gives them everything in abundance. Cyclops giants live in caves; everyone knows only their own family; they do not gather for public meetings. We did not immediately land on their land. We entered the bay of a small island located near the island of the Cyclops. No man had ever visited this island, although it was very fertile. On this island there were wild goats in abundance, and since these goats had never seen a person, they were not afraid of us. Having moored to the shore at night, we calmly fell asleep on the shore, and in the morning we started hunting goats. Each of my ships received nine goats, but for the ship on which I myself sailed, I took ten of them. We rested the whole day after the hunt, happily feasting on the shore. From the land of the Cyclops we heard their voices and the bleating of their herds. The next morning I decided to sail on my ship to the land of the Cyclops to find out what kind of people they were. We quickly swam across the narrow strait and landed on the shore. Near the sea we saw a cave overgrown with laurel trees and surrounded by a fence of huge stones. I took twelve reliable comrades with me, grabbed a bottle of wine and food, and went to the Cyclops’ cave. As we learned later, this Cyclops was terribly ferocious, he lived separately from others and grazed his flocks alone. He, like all Cyclopes, was not like other people. He was a giant, he had monstrous strength and had only one eye in his forehead. When we entered his cave, he was not at home, he was tending his flocks. In the cave of the Cyclops, there were many cheeses in baskets, and sour milk in buckets and bowls. Fences for lambs and kids were built in the cave. My companions began to persuade me, capturing the best lambs and kids and taking cheeses, to run to the ship, but, unfortunately, I did not listen to them. I wanted to see the Cyclops himself. Finally, the Cyclops himself arrived. He threw a huge bundle of firewood onto the ground at the entrance to the cave. Seeing the Cyclops, we hid in fear into the darkest corner of the cave. The Cyclops drove his herd into the cave, blocked the entrance with a rock and began to milk the goats and sheep. After milking them, he lit a fire to cook his own food. Then he saw us and asked rudely in a thunderous voice:
-Who are you? Where did you come from? Is it true that you wander the seas idle, causing misfortune to all nations?
“We are all Greeks,” I answered the Cyclops, “we are sailing from Troy.” We were brought here by a storm. We beg you to receive us friendly as guests. After all, you know that Zeus punishes those who offend strangers and do not show them hospitality.
“It’s obvious that you came here from afar, stranger!” - the Cyclops shouted to me fiercely, - if you think that I am afraid of your gods. What do I care about Zeus! I am not afraid of the wrath of Zeus! I do not intend to spare you! I will do what I want! Tell me where your ships are!
I understood why the Cyclops was asking me about my ship, and I answered him:
“A storm smashed my ship against the coastal cliffs, only I and my companions escaped.
The Cyclops did not answer me. He quickly grabbed my two companions with his huge hands, hit them on the ground and killed them. He then boiled them, cutting their bodies into pieces, and ate them. We fell into indescribable horror and began to pray to Zeus for salvation. The Cyclops, having finished his terrible dinner, calmly stretched out on the ground and fell asleep. I wanted to kill him, I drew my sword, but, looking at the huge rock that blocked the entrance, I realized that we couldn’t escape like that. Morning has come. Again the Cyclops killed two of my companions. Having eaten them, he drove the herd out of the cave and blocked the entrance with a rock. For a long time I thought of a way to save myself, and finally I came up with it. In the cave I found a huge log that looked like a mast. The Cyclops probably wanted to make a club out of it. I cut off the end of the log with a sword, sharpened it, burned it on coals and hid it. In the evening the Cyclops returned with the herd. Again he killed two of my companions and, having finished his disgusting dinner, wanted to go to bed. But I approached him and offered him a cup of wine. The Cyclops drank the wine and demanded more, telling me:
- Pour me another drink and tell me what your name is, I want to prepare you a gift.
I poured a second cup for the Cyclops, he demanded a third, and I poured a third. Handing it over, I said to the Cyclops:
- Do you want to know my name? My name is Nobody.
“Well, listen, Nobody, I will eat you last, this will be my gift to you,” the Cyclops answered me with a laugh. He drank the third cup, got drunk, fell to the ground and fell asleep.
Then I gave a sign to my comrades, we grabbed the pointed end of the log, lit it on a fire and burned out the Cyclops’ eye with it. He roared in terrible pain, tore the smoking stake out of his eye and began to call other Cyclopes for help. They came running and began to ask:
- What happened to you, Polyphemus? Who hurt you? Have your flocks been stolen from you? Why did you wake us up?
Polyphemus answered them, roaring wildly:
- No one is destroying me not by force, but by cunning!
The Cyclops got angry and shouted to Polyphemus:
- If no one offended you, then there is no need for you to cry so much! If you are sick, then this is the will of Zeus, and no one will change it.
With these words the Cyclops left.
It's morning. With loud groans, Polyphemus moved the rock away from the entrance and began to release the herd into the field, feeling the back of each sheep and each goat with his hands. Then, in order to save my comrades, I tied up three rams each and tied one of my comrades under the middle one. I myself, clutching my hands to the thick wool of a huge ram, Polyphemus’s favorite, hung under him. The rams with my companions tied under them passed Polyphemus. The last one was the ram, under which I was hanging. Polyphemus stopped him, began to caress him and complain about his misfortune, about the fact that the impudent Nobody had offended him. Finally, he let this ram pass too. This is how we were saved from certain death. We quickly drove Polyphemus' herd to the ship, where our comrades were waiting for us. I did not allow my comrades to mourn the dead. We quickly boarded the ship, capturing Polyphemus' sheep, and sailed away from the shore. When we sailed to such a distance that a man’s voice can be heard, I loudly shouted to the Cyclops:
- Listen, Cyclops! By your cruelty you have brought upon yourself the punishment of Zeus. You will no longer kill and devour unfortunate wanderers.
The Cyclops heard me, in a rage he lifted the cliff and threw it into the sea. The bow of the ship was almost crushed by a cliff. The sea became agitated when a cliff fell into it. A huge wave picked up my ship and threw it ashore. But I pushed the ship away with my pole, and we sailed out to sea again. Sailing away, I shouted to Polyphemus:
- Know, Polyphemus, that you were blinded by Odysseus, king of Ithaca.
The wild Cyclops howled with anger and exclaimed loudly:
- The prophecy given to me by the soothsayer has come true! I thought that Odysseus was a formidable giant, and not such an insignificant worm like you!
Polyphemus began to pray to his father Poseidon so that he would punish me for depriving him of his sight. He grabbed a rock even larger than the first and threw it into the sea. The cliff behind the ship fell. A huge wave picked up my ship and threw it far into the sea. This is how we were saved. We happily reached the island, where the other ships were waiting for us. There we made rich sacrifices to the gods. After spending the night on the shore of this island, the next day we set off on a further journey across the boundless sea, grieving for our fallen comrades.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru